1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a laundry treatment machine.
2. Background
Generally, laundry treatment machines refer to various apparatuses that treat laundry by applying physical and chemical actions to laundry. Examples of laundry treatment machines include a washing machine that separates contaminants from clothing and bedding (hereinafter, referred to as laundry) using chemical decomposition of water and detergent and mechanical action such as friction between water and laundry, a drying machine that dehydrates and dries wet laundry, and a refresher that sprays heated vapor to laundry to unwrinkle or sterilize laundry.
These laundry treatment machines include a main body in which laundry is treated and a lid or a door pivotably coupled to the main body to open and close a laundry loading hole. In this case, when the lid is closed, the lid may strongly hit the main body, affecting the durability of a product. Also, since the lid is formed of a metallic material or includes a glass to form a lid window, the weight of the lid increases. For these reasons, a large force is needed for a user to open the lid, and when the lid is closed, the lid may strongly hit the main body.
In a typical laundry treatment machine, the lid is pivotably supported by hinges disposed at both sides of the lid, and one of two hinges provides a certain repulsive force or a resistant force to serve as a shock-absorbing member that controls the pivoting speed of the lid during the pivoting of the lid. However, since the repulsive forces or the resistant forces provided from both hinges are not uniform, there is a limitation of distortion of the lid.
Particularly, one of typical two hinges includes an elastic member that is deformed during the pivoting of the lid, and provides a torque in a direction where the lid is opened by a restoring force of the elastic member when the lid is pivotably closed, decelerating the closing speed of the lid. The other hinge includes a wing rotating in linkage with the lid in a fluid, serving as a damper that performs a damping action by a hydraulic pressure or a viscous force acting between the wing and the fluid. However, this structure has a limitation in that an unbalance of forces occurs between the hinges due to a structural difference of both hinges and thus the lid is deformed.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.